The present invention relates to sign posts comprising vertically and horizontally extending frame elements which are mutually connected in order to form one or more compartments for accommodating signboards.
Sign posts of this kind are known wherein the vertically and horizontally extending frame elements are welded together and are provided with welded lugs which extend into the compartments and are provided with holes in such a way that signboards may be secured in the compartments by means of bolts which extend through the holes in the signboards and the holes in the lugs.
Known sign posts of this kind in form of road sign posts and also in the form of city sign posts are available having widths which vary from 1000 to 2500 mm with intervals of 250 mm and having heights which vary according to whether the sign post is to comprise one, two, three or four signboards each having a height of 330 mm. Moreover, low road sign posts and city sign posts are available also having widths which vary from 1000 to 2500 mm with intervals of 250 mm and comprising one or two signboards having a height of 600 mm. Moreover, low two-legged gallows for information sign posts are known having widths which vary from 1000 to 2500 mm also with intervals of 250 mm and the heights of which vary from 1000 to 2000 mm with intervals of 250 mm. Accordingly, eighty-six different types of sign posts must be available in order to replace damaged signs on short notice. Moreover, when vehicles collide with welded posts of the known kind referred to above, such collisions will almost always result in damage of the signboards because only a minor bend of a single frame element will cause damage to the signboards due to the bolt connections between the signboards and the welded frame elements.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a sign post of the kind referred to above which, in a simple way, may be constructed from standardized frame elements in such way that equal frame elements may be used for constructing a plurality of different posts having different sizes so that a considerable reduction of articles in stock may be achieved. Calculations made on the basis of the present invention proves that only eighteen different types of frame elements are necessary in order to build the eighty-six different types of posts referred to above. This is due to the fact that if the sign posts are constructed from standard frame elements, frame elements of equal kind may be used in order to build different posts. This applies in particular as regards the horizontal frame elements which define the compartments wherein the signboards are to be arranged. However, it is a condition for such rationalization of sign posts that the frame elements of the posts may easily be connected in a reliable and rigid way.